Shadows
by mysticminou
Summary: It had all started so normally. And now Yami, was experiencing a weakness he had never felt before. He knew what it was, but he couldn't give voice to it. (Revolutionshipping. Peachshipping if you squint.)


_I own nothing._

 _I've started playing Duel Links and the Vagabound character just seems fishy to me. Also, it doesn't help that I just saw DSoD. And these stupid idiots made me have feels. My babies will be the death of me. And yes, the Captain of the Revolutionship has returned from hiatus. (Maybe.)_

 _ **XXX**_

"The Vagabound?" Anzu repeated, the name unfamiliar. She glanced at Yugi to find him equally confused.

Jonouchi nodded, his blonde hair flopping against his forehead. "He's dis new duelist who's unbeatable." He grinned crookedly as he eyed Yugi. "Until sumbody puts 'im in 'iz place, right, Yuge?"

Yugi blushed. "I don't know, Jou. I've heard he cheats."

"So chu have heard of 'im!" Jonouchi accused.

Yugi shrugged. "Kinda. I've never heard his name…or nickname. Just some rumors about a duelist that cheats. Other me's not really taken much interest, so it's probably just some harmless kid."

"Dat's where chu're wrong, Yuge!" He glanced at Anzu. "Apparently, if ya can beat 'im, ya get sum big prize!"

Anzu rolled her azure eyes with a shake of her head. "We've all heard that gimmick. It's really tiring. I say, we pass up on this one. Besides, Yugi just said he cheats."

This time, the blonde rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, it's not like Yugi plays completely by rules, eh, Yugi?"

Ears burning, Yugi looked down dejectedly towards his puzzle. "It's not like that…Besides, he does most of the dueling. I've only interfered like twice."

Anzu stood, her stool roughly scooting across the floor with a screech, as she glared at the taller boy. "That's horrible, Jonouchi! They don't cheat! Besides, it's not like the other guys play fair!"

Shrinking back from her ire, the duelist began to backtrack. "All I'm sayin' is dat the prize should be a pizza cake."

Anzu shook her head. "Is that all you ever think of?" The girl stretched her arms above her head, rolling her head to work out the kinks before she pulled her stool back up and sat down again. "Besides, we've got mid-terms in case you've forgotten." Returning to her workbook, the brunette began to work on the math problems once more.

Jonouchi pleaded with Yugi to back him, but the smaller boy merely shrugged and also went back to his math work. Frowning, Jonouchi picked up his dull pencil and tapped it against his sloppy workbook. Anzu and Yugi quietly worked on a few more problems before Jonouchi's tapping began to grate on Anzu's nerves. The dancer looked up with a frown. "Jonouchi," she threatened.

Feigning innocence, the blonde shrugged and pretended to work on a problem. "Chu just mad 'cause chu can't duel like da Pharaoh can. Maybe dat's why he won't give ya da time of day."

A few seconds passed in quiet. Yugi glanced worriedly from Anzu to Jonouchi, knowing of Anzu's temper and her not so secret crush of his other self. Without fail, the girl lurched to her feet. "Fine! You want to duel! Let's go!"

Jonouchi grinned in victory as Yugi felt unease settle in his stomach.

 **XXX**

Jonouchi told them that the Vagabound would be at Kaiba Land and he was right. Anzu held her bright pink deck holder in her hand, muttering to herself, as she stormed up the steps to the dueling park. "As soon as we have a go at this punk, I'm going home!"

Jonouchi grinned cheekily beside Yugi as the two walked behind her. "She's got an ego, dat one!" He snickered.

Yugi frowned. "She doesn't even duel. Besides, she's technically unbeaten." He frowned. "And you should maybe apologize…"

Jonouchi shrugged. "I didn't lie, Yuge."

As they entered the dueling park, a few kids their age milled about watching duels on the training tables set about the main entry room. They could hear the sounds of a duel coming from the one of the dueling stadiums across the way. The boys hurried to catch up to the girl as she quickly weaved her way around the duelists. The three entered the dueling stadium just in time to see a teenage boy lose. Three monsters to one? Not good odds.

"Yuge's had worse." He almost mentioned Yugi's duels where the Seal of Orichalos was used, but for once he used his better judgement. After all, they were all still reluctant to remember that particular American adventure. Especially his two companions.

The trio looked at the winner, the Vagabound, and were shocked. He was their age. He wore a red jacket over a black tee and jeans. His face was partially covered by a red hat with goggles attached to the base. As the loser left the duel ring, Anzu strode forward proudly.

"I'll take you on!" She yelled loudly and the room went quiet. A few snickered at seeing her. She was famously known as being Yugi's cheerleader in the dueling circles and here she was challenging someone with no loses? It was laughable.

But, she got his attention. The Vagabound glanced up, his bill casting shadows on his face, but not hiding his smirk at seeing Anzu and the boy close beside her.

"Anzu…" Yugi worried for his friend as the unease returned.

She grinned down at the boy. "Cheat or no cheat, he's just a kid!" She winked. "Cheer me on, ok?" Then she sprinted up the steps to the duel box. Yugi watched as she removed her deck and began to shuffle.

"What's her deck?" Jonouchi asked.

"I helped her build it," Yugi admitted. "It's a Spellcaster-Fairy deck. It's just something to run for fun, not for competitions. It's mainly built to be on the defense until she can summon Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl."

Jonouchi snickered. "So it's your deck?"

Yugi blushed. "No!"

The large T.V.'s around the stadium showed the Vagabound's challenge.

Opening Hand: 3 Cards.

She accepted the duel on her side of the arena. That wasn't too bad, she thought. Then as they drew, she realized that the challenge didn't apply to him. "That cheat!" She whispered to herself as the screens showed a ceremonial coin flipping to determine who would start the duel. The coin toss granted her the first turn.

"My turn," she whispered to herself. Her hand was De-spell, Ancient Elf, and Royal Knight. It was an ok hand, in her opinion. Choosing her lonely spell card, she played it first. "I set a card." She reviewed her monsters again and went with her Elf as it had the highest ATK. "I hope you can help me...I summon a monster in attack position!"

"My turn's over," she declared after the hologram effects died away.

To further boost his better odds, he drew a card. Then, he played Twin Headed Behemoth and a spell card that boosted its ATK. He easily defeated her Elf and her LP dropped to 3450. His turn was over.

"That's nothing I can't handle!" She drew a card. It was a spell card and would do her no good right now. Grinning, she played her de-spell and destroyed the Gravity Axe that had boosted his monster's ATK. Despite her small victory, the monsters in her hand couldn't touch his. "I set a monster facedown. My turn's over." Time to go on the defensive.

It was his turn. He drew a card. Silently, he tributed his monster to summon Parrot Dragon. He attacked her face down. Her Royal Knight was defeated, but she lost no LP.

Her turn again. She drew Fire Sorcerer. With a frown, she set the Spellcaster in DEF mode. Her turn was over. She began to grow nervous. Where was her Dark Magician Girl? If she could just draw her…

Vagabound drew. He played Element Magician and attacked her face down. Anzu sighed in relief. Her Sorcerer survived the attacked…only to be destroyed by his Dragon.

In the stands, Jonouchi seemed to suddenly realize something. "Hey, Yuge?"

Yugi hummed for him to continue; his attention mainly on the duel before him.

"I actually don't know what the prize is."

When Yugi remained silent, Jonouchi glanced at his friend to find not Yugi, but Yami sitting beside him. The Pharaoh glared at him before turning his attention back to the duel.

Anzu drew another spell card. No use. Her field was empty and she only had two spell cards that were useless without monsters on the field. She chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe she could set them and bluff him into thinking they were traps? Would that hold him off another turn? Probably not. She had already embarrassed herself by coming here to prove…what exactly? That she could duel? That she was worthy of the Pharaoh's attention? "My turn's…over." In more ways than one.

Vagabound drew. He summoned Sphere Kuriboh. He attacked her LP directly. She was down to 3150. Then his Magician attacked her. 1650. He was slowly picking her off. There had been no reason to attack her with the low leveled Kuriboh.

Yami and Anzu seemed to have the same thought. He had to be gloating. Not only had Anzu not even touched his LP, he was slowly chipping away at hers. It reminded her of someone…She helplessly clutched her two spell cards to her chest as her eyes flickered to the monitor showing her remaining LP.

Yami lurched to his feet. "Stop the duel!" Jonouchi, shocked, sprang to his feet. "Yuge?" The Pharaoh ignored him as she bolted up the stairs to Anzu. The wrongness he had felt earlier finally resolved itself.

This was a trap.

Ignoring the Pharaoh, the Vagabound attacked Anzu with his Dragon. Her LP went to 0. Yami reached for her, his hand nearly making contact with her shoulder when she let out a scream of pain. Yami pulled the girl into his arms and felt the electric shocks course through him from Anzu. He grunted as he dropped to his knees with Anzu clutched tightly in his arms. "Anzu!"

The girl screeched into his ear and threatened to rupture his ear drum. Distantly, he could hear Jonouchi calling out to them and the crowd running away, screaming in fear. Yami forced himself to looked up at the Vagabound through winced eyes. The duelist's smirk grew.

Yami blamed himself as Anzu's cries softened to whimpers. Her frame going slack in his arms as the currents died away. This was all his fault. He should have noticed sooner that this was a trap. Yugi had known something was off, but the spirit…The spirit had just ignored the whole thing. It had all started as banter between friends and he had not thought much about this strange duelist. And now…

Yami stood, Anzu's still body held tightly in his arms. He had to get her to safety. His own body ached and his vision was blurry but his feelings for Anzu kept him standing tall. His feelings…He would muse over that thought later.

Jonouchi finally stood behind him and Yami turned to him. "Jonouchi, take Anzu and go!" It pained him to relinquish her to someone else, but he needed her to be safe.

"Aw, man! This is all my fault! Anzu was right!" Jonouchi glared at the opposite end of the arena and gasped as his face turned to shock. "He's gone, Yuge!" Yami whipped his head around and sure enough, the Vagabound was missing from his duel box.

A dark chuckle caused the boys to glance behind them. The Vagabound stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to their duel box. They were effectively trapped.

"I knew Jonouchi would not be able to turn down a prize," the duelist began. His voice was course and not at all sounding like a kid their age. He sounded far older. He tilted his hat back and the teens were rewarded with a first glance at his face. His dark eyes bored at them from where they were set in a pale face. A wicked grin crossed the duelist's face. "And I knew eventually you would come, Yugi. However, I never imagined that she would challenge me." He laughed, it was dark and cruel. Not at all human sounding. "Malik sends his regards, by the way."

"Malik?" Jonouchi shrieked, his voice going high like a girl. "But I thought-"

"Darkness never goes truly away, Jonouchi." Yami intoned; his words reminding the boy how the Pharaoh was far older than he appeared.

The Vagabound grinned. "He's right. While the Pharaoh may have driven away the darkness, shadows remain." He nodded towards the girl in Jonouchi's arms. "Like in our little dancer." Suddenly, Yami remembered that Malik had taken control of Anzu. Had they resolved that? Yami couldn't remember. So much had been going on back then…

"I had meant to shock your other friend, but when I saw her come up." He laughed that wicked laugh again. "It was all the better!"

"Why chu!" Jonouchi started to advanced, but he remembered the girl in his arms and stopped. He glanced over at Yami. "What's da plan, Yuge?"

Yami stood coldly beside Jonouchi, his scarlet eyes locked on the Vagabound. Pieces of Malik's darker side remained. Why had he not…He swore.

"Yugi…" Jonouchi whined. "We gotta do sumthin'."

Ignoring his friend for the moment, Yami advanced a step or two. "Change her back!" He yelled.

The Vagabound shook his head. "No can do, Pharaoh. I merely shocked some sense back into her." He laughed yet again.

Yami practically jumped down the steps towards the Vagabound, his hands reaching for him as if he would strangle the duelist in a fit of rage. With one final laugh, the Vagabound disappeared and Yami landed on the floor in an ungraceful heap. He groaned out in pain; already, he could feel bruises foaming on his side. He mentally apologized to Yugi. No doubt his lighter self would be sore in the morning.

He heard a scuffling behind him. Feebly, he stood. Bracing himself on his knees in a moment of weakness, he glanced up at his friends. Jonouchi no longer held Anzu. Instead, the blonde duelist gaped at their friend as she stood tall and proud as if her injuries had healed magically. Her azure eyes had darkened to a dull black and she grinned down at the Pharaoh.

"No…" He dropped back to his knees. "Anzu…"

The girl grinned teasingly at him. "Yami," she whispered as she sauntered down the stairs. Jonouchi's hand reached out to stop her, but he seemed to think better of it.

The girl made it to the bottom of the few steps separating them and kneeled down to Yami's level. He stared into the eyes of the girl he…

And his blood ran cold at her next words. "Do you want to play a game, Yami?" She giggled as a single tear ran down his cheek.

 **XXX**

 _Yeah, if you thought this fic would end happy or something, you've come to the wrong place._


End file.
